Ian Stewart hoping for a breakthrough

Ian Stewart hoping for a breakthrough

Ian Stewart hopes this is the answer, that he wont need surgery to finally fix his sore left wrist.

Stewart returned from the Cleveland Clinic and plans to start a hitting program this weekend after getting a cortisone shot.

The Cubs third baseman said an outside medical opinion indicated a possible compression of the bones in his left hand, which may have pinched some ligaments.

Hopefully, this works, and I start playing again and hitting and its really a non-issue, Stewart said Wednesday. If it gets to the point where its effecting my swing still, then theres other options that we can take. Hopefully, we dont have to go that route.

Stewart went on the disabled list last week to deal with an injury thats been bothering him off and on since last summer, when he was with the Colorado Rockies. He may just have to deal with it all season.

Stewart also hurt his wrist in 2006 while diving for a ball at their Double-A affiliate. He felt good enough to generate 25 homers for the Rockies in 2009.

While Stewart has been a plus defender, he hasnt been the impact bat (.201 average) the Cubs projected. He already had a cortisone shot before the start of a 10-day road trip at the beginning of this month. This injection was made at a different spot.

Its frustrating, Stewart said, because it seems like every time I go in its: Lets just give it a shot and that should work. Its been three or four times now, so its definitely something thats been hard for me to deal with.

It seems like the needle is always a quick fix, and it really hasnt been that way. So hopefully this time it works, and we can just get past this and move on.

92 Days to Kickoff: St. Edward

92 Days to Kickoff: St. Edward

NBCSportsChicago.com preps reporter "Edgy" Tim O’Halloran spotlights 100 high school football teams in 100 days. The first 75 team profiles will focus on teams making strides across Chicagoland and elsewhere in the state. Starting July 30, we’ll unveil the @NBCSPrepsTop 25 Power Rankings, leading up to kickoff on Friday, Aug. 24.

Biggest holes to fill: Replacing standout quarterback Dylan Mlinarich will likely be one of the bigger projects for the 'Wave.

EDGY's Early Take: The Green Wave just missed out on the 2017 playoff because of low playoff points and will need to reload come August. Only two starters are back on both sides of the football. Look for St. Edward to get the football into the hands of RB Nick Wright quite a bit. WR Sidney Muhammed will also be another experienced play maker this fall.

Latest Cubs Talk

Despite the MLB trade deadline being two months away, rumors of the Cubs potentially acquiring Orioles' shortstop Manny Machado have intensifed recently. Regardless, Cubs president Theo Epstein made his point on the rumor frenzy quite clear Thursday.

Machado is having an unbelievable season with the Orioles, hitting .328 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs entering Thursday. If traded, he would undoubtedly provide a boost to any ballclub, but that is a big "if."

Of course, the MLB season is not even two months old yet, which Epstein pointed out as being a big factor in the situation.

"It's May," he said. "We're still figuring out who we are as a team this year. We're still figuring out our place in the division.

"There's an atypical amount of trade discussion in May this year, which is essentially nil."

Rumors of the Cubs being a potential player in acquiring Machado make sense. At 15-34, the Orioles have the worst winning percentage (.306) in the MLB. With their current positioning, trading Machado could start a rebuild that the Orioles might just need. The Cubs have a 24-year-old shortstop in Addison Russell that the Orioles could acquire to a) replace Machado and b) use as the face of their rebuild.

Be that as it may, Epstein said the rumors are something that the Cubs are "just rolling our eyes at."

"I understand it's natural for people to connect the dots and there to be this kind of frenzy from time to time, but it's honestly something we're looking at and just rolling our eyes at," he said. "It's not like July, where every now and then there's lots of coverage on deals that are actually being discussed or actually might happen.